Moisture migration in the cathode GDL of PEMFC under variable physical parameters based on a modified two-fluid model

To predict the morphology and migration of water in the porous electrode of proton ex-change membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) more accurately, a modified mathematical model of with extensions of the original two-fluid model is presented based on the heat and mass transfer model of unsaturated porous media. The model integrated the mechanisms of the capillary effect, pressure, diffusion, and phase-to-phase interaction, and was applied to the numerical study of the single-fluid channel cell herein. The results show that the inter-action between the gas and liquid is dominated by the drag force caused by relative motion, which highly depends on the position and local water saturation. What's more, a higher porosity facilitates the discharge of liquid and gaseous water in the GDL, while for the permeability, there exists a local optimum value which leads to a lowest liquid saturation in the GDL and helps to avoid the flooding phenomenon.(c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.